Happenings Part 1

So...I have plenty of excuses for not keeping up with the blog. There's been a lot going on, so I'll just hit the important dates...and to keep things from being TOO lengthy, this will happen in more than just one part. You're welcome. :D

At the end of August, Patrick and I went on a 7 day cruise to Jamaica, Grand Cayman Island, and Cozumel...a do-over honeymoon if you will. It was very much needed. Kadence stayed with Nana, Papa and Uncle Peyton while we were gone, so we all had a good time. Seeing as how I'm in update mode, I won't be going into too much detail...perhaps at some point I will...just not now.

In Jamaica we partied on the beach and got REALLY sunburned (despite multiple re-applications of sunscreen) before enjoyed the beautiful weather that rolled in later. :)

We also did some snorkeling, and ended the day with some shopping before we got back on the ship.

While we were in Grand Cayman we went to Hell...did you know that's where it was? :)

We also visited the Turtle Farm...which is where Patrick found Spongebob. :)

We also got go swim and hold Stingrays...they say kissing one brings you 7 years good luck...it really just reminded me why I don't eat sushi. haha

In Cozumel we had some real Mexican food, did some more snorkeling, went shopping...and MOST importantly, avoided mopeds and hospitals. :)

The cruise came in the middle of buying a house. We didn't plan it that way. We'd booked the cruise months before, and it just happened that way. On Friday, September 17th we signed all the paperwork, and became homeowners of a beautiful 2 story, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home. It has a rear-entry garage, which was a huge plus for me. :)

 

On Saturday, September 18th Candice, Stephanie, Ben, myself and Patrick ran The Jailbreak (a 3.5 mile obstacle course/mud run raising money for Sower of Seeds Ministries to drill fresh water wells in India.) I managed to mess up my hip and my foot pretty badly sliding into the river...and ended up at Care Now that night to have my foot X-rayed to make sure it wasn't broken...and thankfully, it was just badly stretched/sprained, and some things were out of place.

Before/After

 On Sunday, September 19th, we moved to our new house. How's that for a packed weekend? Ben, Patrick and I were all REALLY sore from the run the day before, so moving wasn't really a pleasant experience for any of us. But between the 3 of us and my wonderful father-in-law we managed to get the old house packed up and headed up to the new house...where another friend, Reece, showed up as fresh muscle to help us move everything in.

Then the very long unpacking process commenced...it's still technically in progress. :) Kadence had a blast "swimming" in all of the packing paper.

On October 7th I had to call 911 for the first time in my life. Around midnight, a truck driving down our street clipped a semi used for loading cars that was parked on our street (which shouldn't have been)...thing is, the semi's loading ramp was down, and as a result the truck went up on the ramp and launched off...and rolled multiple times before ending up on the other end of the street. One of the tires the flew off hit a house at the end of the street, ripped off siding, and broke through one of the front windows. No one in the house was hurt. Both people in the truck were ok...eventually. The passenger was air-lifted out, and the driver had a concussion...he disappeared from the scene and was found later the next day and taken to the hospital as well.

On October 8th we left to make a weekend trip to Abilene for my best friends wedding. Hey, there's a movie with that title. :) Ruth and Jake's anniversary is 10-10-10...how cool is that? Kadence was the flower girl...and did a wonderful job, until she got to the front, and started crying because her petals were all gone. She calmed down fairly quickly and was fine...until the prayer that began the actual ceremony when she sat down, and then got her foot stuck in her basket and started crying again. She went to go sit with Grandma Patsy and Aunt Martha after that.

Kadence was obsessed with Ruth and kept referring to her as "Princess." It was pretty cute...so were they don't you think? :)

Thus ends Part 1...to be continued. :)

Kadence's Birth Story

In about a month it will be Kadence's 3rd birthday...so I decided to post her birth story. :)

I had developed pre-eclampsia towards the end of the pregnancy, and so at about 38 weeks I was scheduled to be induced. We went to the hospital at 5am on Thursday, November 29^th 2007. They started giving me Pitocin a little after 5:30, and Dr. Kroeger came in and broke my water a little after 7.

The contractions kept getting worse, which is of course what they were supposed to do. I wasn't planning on having the epidural, and I didn't want medication AT ALL unless I REALLY had to. I refused the epidural completely, unless Dr. Lowery (a friend who was the only one I trusted to stick a needle in my spine) was there. They checked and said he was coming in at noon. I was planning on using other techniques to deal with the pain and the contractions, but because of my blood pressure I was unable to move around at all. The one time they let me try to sit up my blood pressure shot up and Kadence went into distress....so I got to do the whole thing on my side, not moving and trying not to kill Patrick...this was after all completely his fault.

After several hours of intense contractions had passed, I needed something to take the edge off...and since a bottle of rum wasn't an option (no, I didn't actually ask), they gave me Stadol...which only helped for a very short time, but made me REALLY high which I didn't care for at all. So the pain kept increasing and Patrick was smart enough to leave me alone, except during contractions when he would come hold my hand and rub my back. I only hit him once....he kissed my hand during a contraction, which got him punched in the face...I still maintain that he deserved it....breaking my concentration like that. :)

When it started getting close to noon the pain was getting too bad to continue just concentrating to get through it, so I had the nurse page my anesthesiologist and ask him to come up to my room as soon as he could after he got to work. He came up around 12:30. I hadn't seen him the whole time I was pregnant, and he had never met Patrick so we all chatted while he set up and did a spinal block/epidural combination...which I barely felt; that's how good he is.

I was able to relax and quit fighting the contractions, and so Patrick and I both napped for an hour and a half until Kim, my nurse, came in to check me again at 2. I was feeling a weird pressure on my tail bone just before she came in...turns out it was Kadence's head, and she was less than 2 inches from coming out. They paged the doctor, positioned me to push, and set up the room. I started pushing at about 2:15. 

The nurses had been commenting all day on how nice it was in our room because we had classical music playing all day. When Dr. Kroeger came in we were listening to Josh Groban, and he also told us how nice it was. I asked what was normal, since that obviously wasn't. He said the TV was usually blaring Maury Povich, Jerry Springer or something else along those lines. No wonder people have horror stories about their births...:)

I pushed for half an hour, during which we were all joking about a bet my doctor had made with my nurse. She had said that it was going to be all over by 3pm. He said no way was it going to go that fast since it was my first baby, and it was an induction. Patrick asked if they wanted to place a bet on how many more contractions I would have before she came out. The doctor said, “No, she (the nurse) knows better than to bet on anything with me now, because I'm in control. If she said one more, I could just hold the baby's head in until the next one.”

The next contraction came, and she was still in. I glared at Dr. Kroeger, and asked if he was holding her head. He laughed and assured me he wasn't....he didn't have a reason to because he hadn't placed a bet on it. It's kinda hard to push when you're laughing. She came out on the next contraction with her fists next to her face (which caused some tearing) at 2:46pm to Josh Groban and Charlotte Church singing “The Prayer.” As Dr. Kroeger was cleaning her up he said “Wow, she's cute!” My response was “I know, I thought she was going to be much uglier than that.” He said “They usually are, but she's cute!”

Kadence Rayne weighed 6lb, 3oz and was 19inches long. Patrick screwed those numbers up twice when he sent a couple of text messages saying that she was 9lb, 3oz and 16inches long, then corrected the length but not the weight, and eventually got it right when everyone kept asking if he was sure. 

She scored a 9.9 on the Apgar scale....in other words, perfect.

Little Miss Indepenedence

Kadence has become very independent about getting dressed...she does NOT like help, and often doesn't even like being watched. She's even started taking herself potty, and doesn't like help...or being watched.

Examples:

• She took her clothes into my room since no one was in there, and climbed her naked self up on my bed so she could sit down and put her "canties" on. I stopped Patrick in the hall so he wouldn't go in and upset her with his presence. After she got them on, she got off the bed to pull them up, and noticed us in the hall. She ran over to the door (with her panties half-way up), yelled "Bye! Get outta here!" and slammed the door.

• She had to go potty, and informed me "I do it myself. Just stay there!" When she realized she needed the light on, she asked me to turn on the light for her. After I did, she said "Now go away. Leave me alone!" and shut the bathroom door.

• She had to go potty and had to put her panties all the way back on after. I stepped over to help her, and she held out one hand and said "Relax! Relax! Chill out!"

We were in the car on the way home. She had some bandaids on her legs (no boo-boos, just bandaids) and she took them off her legs, and put them on her feet. Then she told me "Look! I got Jimmy Choos!" I want to know how she even knows what those are.

She came over to me with one of her plastic play knives and told me "I gotta cut those eyebrows. Look at me, and be still!" I'd also like to know where THAT came from.

Backlogging...cause it's been awhile.

We were trying to get her to say Osh Kosh b'gosh...it didn't work very well.

Kadence put her pull-up all the way on without help for the 1st time (they say it's like real underwear, but it's really much more difficult) and then she put her shorts on without me knowing. She was so excited she started doing her own rendition of Dora the Explorer's "I did it! Hoooray!" dance. In case you're wondering, Daddy's the one who taught her "shake your booty"...like that's surprising...:)

 

Little drama queen was holding my hand while she was on the potty...she turned it over and saw my wedding rings. She gasped, then whispered "The diamond! So pretty!"

 

K was standing by the fridge saying "I want a beer. I want a beer. Mommy, I want a beer." We don't drink beer, so I was rather shocked. I went over to see her looking up on TOP of the fridge at the teddy grahams. She meant BEARS. 

While she was out of bed to go potty, Kadence patted her messy little bedhead and told me "Mommy, I georgeous!"...not conceited at all now are we...

 

K: "Mommy, what's your name?" Me: "Rachael." K: "No! It's Mommy!"

 

Patrick started backing up the car before he buckled up...Kadence yelled "Daddy no! Seat belt!" I do believe that's the best thing she's learned from watching Dora. :)

 

After I got home from work one day, I told K "I missed you today babycakes." She replied "I miss you mommycakes." She randomly calls me "mommycakes" now.

 

My phone alarm went off, so K brought me the phone and told me "Here Mommy. Someone wants to talk to you." The other day Patrick was calling, and K started out bringing me my phone, but stopped halfway, wound up to pitch it to me and said "Here it comes Mommy!" I managed to grab it before she pitched it.

 

K just randomly started counting in Spanish one morning...which caught me a little off guard. She was jumping, and every time she jumped she counted...but it went like this "Uno! Dos! Dress! Stinko! Seis!" We're working on trying to fit "quatro" between "dress" and "stinko."

 

K informed me one morning that she couldn't take her milk from me, because she had to pay for it first. I told her to give me a kiss and that would pay for it. As she was putting on MY shoes, she said "No, I gotta go to work." At least she knows where money comes from...haha

 

K asked me for "pussytails" one morning...I guess that makes as much sense as calling them ponytails or pigtails. Normally she just calls them "tails."

 

I told K to get ready for her nap while I filled up her water (meaning get her baby and chipmunks.) She came back and told me she was ready. She had put her coloring book, and a handful of crayons in her bed so she could "Go night-night and color papers."

 

K: Mommy, what's your name? 

Me: Mommy. 

K: Right! What's the Kadence's name? 

Me: Kadence. 

K: Yes, right! What's the Birdy's name? (her Brittany Chipmunk) 

Me: Brittany. 

K: No, Birdy. What's the name the tree? 

Me: Um...tree? 

K: Right! What the name the other tree....etc. etc. etc. 

I ♥ being her Mommy. :)

 

K let go of her balloon and she couldn't reach it...so she asked me to get it. I had already told her I wasn't getting it anymore, so I didn't answer her. She came over, patted me on the head, and said "It's ok. Go ahead. Get it!"

 

K pointed to something I was holding and asked "Mommy, is that yours?" I said that it was, and she said "I'm yours too!"

 

We went shopping at "Mal-Nart" and I walked away from Patrick and Kadence to get something. Kadence yelled "Mommy Rachael! Hurry, come back!" several times, then she just started yelling "Rachael, rapido!" until I came back.

 

K was acting up, and P asked her if she wanted a spank. She yelled back "No, not yet! Later!"

 

Kadence shut herself in her room, and Caiden was pounding on the door yelling "Kadence, this is not an idea!" (We think he meant GOOD idea.) She yelled back "Sorry!" to which he replied "No you're not! Open the door, or your mother is gonna get a spanking!" (I hope he meant GIVE YOU a spanking.)

 

There are 3 family members who have birthdays on May 30th...so Kadence made a video for all of them. 

 

After she had an potty accident, I asked Kadence "Where are you SUPPOSED to go potty??" She replied "Um, NOT in the Dora canties." I laugh everytime she calls them "canties."

 

K: Turn that off! 

Me: No. 

K: Please? 

Me: No. 

K: PLEASE! 

Me: No. You don't always get what you want just because you say please. 

K: Why not? 

Me: Because I'm the mommy, and I get to decide. 

K: Oh!

 

She had a very bad day...first she bit her lip and it bled for about 5 minutes...the she somehow manged to go off a single step face first into the sidewalk. :(

 

We went to go eat lunch with Daddy. He walked over to me holding her, and she said "Hi Mommy! This is Daddy!" while patting his chest. They had their picture taken with the Chick-Fil-A cow, and after the picture while the cow was walking away, Kadence said "Bye bye cow! Moo moo!" The next morning K woke up and told me "Mommy, I want to say cheese and the cow." I told her we don't have a cow, and she said "The cow's at work Mommy." My brain eventually woke up to realize that she wanted to go take another picture with the Chick-Fil-A cow.

K told me quite seriously while we were on our way home "Mommy, I need a wife. I want a wife Mommy." I asked if she needed a WIPE, and she said "No, I want a WIFE." I asked her what she was going to do with a wife...her ...answer "Hide it." I have NO clue what she was actually talking about.

 

On the way to the zoo, Kadence asked me "Mommy, how I get down the giraffe?" I asked her why she would need to get down from the giraffe, and she said "I climb up!" I had to explain that we don't climb the animals, or ride them...we just look at them. We've been trying to teach her all the different kinds of animals...some she can say, others...well...

She got her 1st shaving cut the other day while we were in the shower...due to the fact that I didn't realize she's now tall enough to reach the ledge in the shower where my razor was. There was no crying, just a surprised "Mommy, I have a booboo." Turn your back for 1 second...she was happy that she got a "booboo nanaid" though.

Poppy came to visit...and was forced to do the iCarly dance. She makes everyone do it. :)

She and Caiden really enjoyed seeing Poppy (as did the rest of us), although he wasn't here NEARLY long enough....hint, hint.

 

Patrick came home from class the other day looking completely worn out. K was holding his face while she looked at him, and with a concerned tone asked "Daddy, what happend your head?? Daddy, what happend your face??" He said "Nothing happened baby. Daddy's just naturally ugly."

K and I spent about an hour sitting on the couch under an umbrella the other night, because she said it was raining. It had been raining for several days, and I had told her we only used the umbrella when it was raining...and since she wanted to play with it, she decided it was raining...inside. 

 

I need thunder every time I tell her to do something and she hesitates. It was like the voice of God commanding her to obey. lol

 

She asked for a "booboo nanaid" the other day, so I got one for her. I was opening it and she said "No, I do it!" After turning it over in her hands for a few seconds, she looked up at me confused and said "But how?" 

 

After I got her up the other morning and gave her her medicine for the day, she said "Now, what to do first!"

After she had refused to take a nap, I gave up and went into her room to get her...she jumped up and started pulling her pull-up back up. I asked her what she was doing, and she told me "I go potty on the bed." She had been squatting in the corner of her bed with her pull-up down, and I walked in just before she started peeing.


K busted my lip playing rough. She came over and asked me "What happened? Where's it hurt?" I told her my lip and she said "Let's see." and proceeded to inspect it. Then she said "Come on Mommy, I make it all better." She took me by the hand, led me into the bathroom, climbed up and got the Dora band-aids. She needed help opening one, and then she put it on my lip. "There you go Mommy. I make it all better."


I'll try not to let over 2 months go by before I update again...and then it won't take quite so long for you to get to The End. :)